Europeans don’t view the internet as a critical, key source for political news.

It doesn’t matter whether they’re in Bucharest or Copenhagen, EU citizens generally distrust political information posted on websites and social networks. At least in the eyes of Europeans, radio and television are still king when it comes to trustworthy information.

Some 81 percent of Bulgarians get their political news from TV, 19 percent from online social networks and 31 percent from websites, a Eurobarometer study on which combination of media Europeans consult for politics showed. In Romania, 78 percent rely on TV for political content, while 22 percent rely on websites and 18 percent on online social networks.

That’s not that far from the preference held by Europe’s population overall: 72 percent still count on TV as their primary source of European political information.

Seventy-five percent of Finns and 82 percent of Danes turn to their tubes to get most of their political news, the Eurobarometer showed. But the Finns’ reliance on the written press and on websites is significantly higher than their Danish counterparts, with 60 percent turning to print and 50 percent to websites. In Denmark, 38 percent depend on the written press while 36 percent rely on social networks.

EU citizens are still questioning the internet — even though a growing number of people get their information from the web rather than radio or printed newspapers. The survey didn’t distinguish a newspaper’s print coverage from its online coverage.

When asked where they got their news on national political matters, the internet ranked second after television. That’s a big bump, considering it ranked fourth in November 2015.

TV reigns in the U.S. too, it turns out, as 57 percent said they “often get news” from TV. But the internet comes in second, with 38 percent often finding their news online. A quarter of American residents often finds their news via the radio, but it’s print newspapers that fare the worst: Only one in five often get their information from the presses.

In the U.S., young people dropped print papers almost entirely: Only 1 in 20 people between 18 and 29 often get their information from a paper — though they might still read newspaper articles online. They’re heavily skewed to online news, with 50 percent saying it’s their most-used source.

Back in the EU, the internet is more critical to some nationalities than others.

Some 62 percent of Latvians are most keen on the internet as a source of political news, the Eurobarometer study showed, while only 30 percent in Italy and 29 percent in Portugal listed it as their main source.

Social networks still account for only a small minority of information channels: In Malta, more people rely on Facebook and other social networks as their primary source of information than elsewhere in Europe.

That doesn’t mean the Maltese go to the web over their TV sets: Only 36 percent use the internet as their primary source of political news.

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wow

Old GUARDIAN Headline from 2004:

‘Britain will have a Siberian Climate by 2020’

‘Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..
….European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world. ‘

Mark Townsend and Paul Harris in New York
Sunday 22 February 2004 01.33 GMT GUARDIAN